The second “Saudi Codes” event taught 1,025,971 Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia and 139 other countries how to code in three programming languages: JavaScript, Python and MakeCode

Saudi Arabia, February 11, 2019

JEDDAH: The Misk Foundation — a nonprofit charity established by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — celebrated the completion of the second “Saudi Codes” at an event in Riyadh on Saturday. Saudi Codes is a partnership between Misk, the Saudi Education Ministry, the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Saudi Telecom Co. (STC). It is an educational initiative designed to teach people computer programming in an accessible and relevant way. The second “Saudi Codes” event taught 1,025,971 Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia and 139 other countries how to code in three programming languages: JavaScript, Python and MakeCode. The courses were made available online and through a series of roadshows across the Kingdom, and consisted of four elements. The daylong celebrations at Al-Raidah Digital City saw 60 coders participate in an “Ideathon” to develop solutions for improving lifestyles in the Kingdom. The winners of this final challenge were announced in an evening ceremony. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Sawaha and the chairman of the board of the Misk Initiatives Center, Bader Al-Asaker, attended the event, along with representatives from partner organizations. Deemah Al-Yahya, executive manager of Misk Innovation, the foundation’s training initiative, welcomed this collaboration between sectors.